Dead Man’s Fingers (Xylaria sp.) is an interesting fungus that, at stages during its life-cycle, does resemble a dead man’s fingers reaching out of the ground. I found it in my yard devoloping in my butterfly garden on woodchips placed to smother the grass. Dead Man’s Fingers grow for several months and take on several forms during their life-cycle.

Early in its development , Dead Man’s Fingers produce a powdery bluish bloom of asexual spores. Later they develop tiny crack-like pockets on their surface that the sexual spores disperse through. These sexual spores provide the microscopic characters needed to identify the species. I think my species is in the Xylatia polymorpha complex. Polymorpha is aptly named because it means “many forms.” See Michael Kuo’s excellent MushroomExpert.com website for more information.

My main challenge with identifying fungi is the different forms the same fungus takes on during its lifetime. I am glad that Nature allowed me the opportunity to observe this fascinating fungus right outside my door.

 
Copyright 2019 by Donald Drife

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